Taking diabetes in stride

Author(s):

Erica Moura

Most 10-year-olds grab snacks without a thought of counting carbs or checking blood sugar. But for Lilly Branka, living with Type 1 diabetes, her life depends on it.

Lilly, who was 3 years old when she was diagnosed, has no memory of a life without needles pricking her fingers to test her blood up to 10 times a day. Yet, this doe-eyed girl refuses to be seen as different.

“I can do as much as a normal 10-year-old can do. I can do all the sports I do,” said Lilly, who is playing hockey and soccer. “I can eat all the things they do, I just have to do a little bit more.”

Emily Branka, Lilly’s mom, remembers the day her daughter was diagnosed as gut-wrenching. The next few sleepless nights were spent poring over literature and learning to take care of Lilly. The harsh fact is, once diagnosed, most people do not live for more than 50 years with Type 1 diabetes.

“We had to learn how to give an injection. We had to learn what high meant, what low meant, how to drop shots — it was a crazy few days,” the mom told the Herald.

Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin, a hormone that helps the body transform glucose to energy.

If insulin is not delivered to the body, it can be fatal. Type 1 diabetes is an unavoidable disease for those who have the predisposition, and there is no cure. It is not a disease caused by too much soda or candy. The condition increases the likelihood of developing kidney problems, heart conditions and blindness.

Faced with these obstacles, Lilly said she has no fear. “There’s really nothing to be scared of if I know I am under great care,” said the fourth-grader at Dale Street School in Medfield. Still, the day she spoke to the Herald one of her monitors malfunctioned, causing momentary panic.

Lilly’s care begins daily at 2 a.m., when her parents test her blood sugar. The testing never stops. She’ll test her blood sugar numerous times during a school day by visiting the nurse’s office. She opens the drawer with her medical supplies, tells the nurse what is going on, and tests her blood sugar and then calculates how much carbohydrates she should have or how much insulin to give herself.

Lilly is part of a growing trend. In June, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health reported that between 2001 and 2009, there was a 23 percent increase in youths living with Type 1 diabetes. Massachusetts does not have statistics for those over the age of 14 living with the condition.

Dr. David Nathan, director of the diabetes center at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, said Type 1 diabetes is “underrepresented.”

“This country is embarrassingly light in registries,” he added.

The Brankas are hopeful that one day a cure will be found. For now, an entire cabinet in the kitchen is dedicated to Lilly’s medical supplies.

The Brankas refuse to let diabetes define their lives, Lilly’s mom said. “We don’t live in the ‘woe is me.’â€‰”

TOMORROW, PART II: The story of a 71-year-old woman who has beat the odds living with Type 1 diabetes.